Raymond Dawson

Name: Raymond Dawson

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Grade: 12th

School: Bayview Secondary School

Hobbies and Interests: Wrestling

Appearance: At 5'11" and 165 pounds, Raymond isn't a big guy, but is fairly cut with lean muscle, a product of wrestling every year. His skin's a deep mahogany brown that can get darker in the warmer months, with the occasional scattering of acne around his chest and face leftover from puberty. He has coarse, dark hair that he usually keeps in cornrows, and keeps his facial hair cut down to stubble. He has some vision problems, and carries a pair of black framed reading glasses to take care of it. One of his ears has mild cauliflower, and while it hasn't affected his hearing, it isn't attractive.

Biography: Raymond Dawson was born the middle of three children, preceded by his brother by 6 years. When he was born, his father had been working in a Detroit steel mill for some ten years, while his mother was a waitress. The family had been doing well enough to afford a comfortable living, even with the odd layoff. In early 1991, Ray's mother became pregnant with her third child.

Ray's younger sister, Alicia, was born prematurely with a low birth weight. Alicia would have cerebral palsy, and this came as a blow to the Dawsons. Ray's father explained to the older Dawson boys that no matter what, they had a duty to protect and stand up for their family, especially the potentially vulnerable Alicia. Nathan took this in stride, more self-interested; Raymond took it to heart.

Mr. Dawson died shortly after Alicia was born, his heart failing after working too hard in the steel mill. The family was hurt. Nathan became bitter and distant, an attitude that would get him into trouble.

The Dawsons pushed through the difficulty. With the primary breadwinner of the family deceased, Mrs. Dawson took multiple jobs, often leaving her kids with a friend. Raymond and Nathan went to school, though the latter found little need of it and oftentimes skipped or otherwise took no interest in it. Nathan would find himself in trouble more often than not, and on occasion Ray was dragged into it. While Ray was fairly intelligent, he didn't seem to have much motivation to excel in school. Indeed, the only thing he seemed to take much interest in was wrestling, which he started at a young age.

As Ray's sister was coming up in age, it was becoming apparent that her intelligence was somewhere north of gifted, and with the coaxing of her teachers, Mrs. Dawson agreed to put her into magnet programs. Her palsy often made her the target of ridicule, even when her condition was explained to the other children.

Raymond, intent on fulfilling the duty his father had laid out before he died, became a protector to his younger sister. He'd escort her to class, and would get into fights with kids at school who took shots at her. His wrestling training gave him an edge when dealing with children, but not against administrators working under zero tolerance rules. He was kicked out of school often for fighting on his sister's behalf, and even flunked a grade once for suspensions. His mother punished him, but she knew the child's motivations and was easy on him. As a result of always looking out for his sister, Raymond became relatively reserved and quiet, with few friends.

At 18, Raymond's brother found himself put into jail for boosting a car. By then he was in with some unsavory characters, and had been planning to run the vehicle in to a chop shop for cash. When his mother confronted him about it, he told her he was actually trying to raise money for the family, to take some pressure off of her. The point was unfortunately moot, as he was to be imprisoned.

A little more time passed, and Raymond's mother met a man at one of her waitressing jobs. He was a doctor in Minnesota who was in Detroit meeting family. The two hit it off, and they started a relationship that blossomed into something bigger. The doctor invited the Dawsons to move to Minnesota with him, and Raymond's mother agreed. The family uprooted and moved there, and suddenly the Dawsons were living more than comfortably again. The doctor paid to get Alicia a private tutor.

Raymond, not having to be a guardian, was given the opportunity to try and let his stunted social skills go. Even so, he has a fierce loyalty to his sister and his mother, and finds it hard to let go of that role.

Advantages: His wrestling experience and conditioning gives Raymond better physical attributes than the average person, and much of his training is applicable to a fight. Raymond isn't easily rattled, and he can manage to stay relaxed in dire situations. If someone curries his favor, he can be highly loyal.

Disadvantages: His lack of social prowess means he's not good at making friends or talking his way out of things. He barely knows anyone outside of the wrestling team and one or two people in other sports. He can be gullible if someone feeds him a good enough line. He can lack conservatism when in risky situations, a personality trait that's gotten him into trouble wrestling on occasion and could potentially do the same for him in others.

Designated Number: Male Student no. 056

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Designated Weapon: Bottle of Vodka (750 ml)

Conclusion: I'm expecting big things out of B056. A caring brother who will want to get back to his dear sister. Here's hoping he doesn't get the blues. For your sister's sake, B056, I hope you've got good tolerance!

'The above biography is as written by Outfoxd. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Outfoxd

Kills: None

Killed By: N/A, Escaped

Collected Weapons: Bottle of Vodka (750 ml, Assigned weapon), Goedendag (from Jaclyn Krusche, lost after throwing at Alex White)

Allies: Brendan Wallace, Robert Barron, Neill Robertson, Sarah Tan, Annaliese Hansen, Isabel Guerra, Alex Jackson, Allen Birkman

Enemies: Alex White

Mid-game Evaluation:

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes: "You got a prayer, let's hear it."

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Raymond, in chronological order.

The Past:


 * The Clutch
 * Evil Flourishes When Good Men do Nothing
 * Baby Steps

Pre-Game:
 * Vaulting
 * All that glitters...
 * Cooling down
 * Flaws
 * Wrestling with the clock

V4: Post-Game:
 * Filling prescriptions
 * Going Round in Circles
 * The Magi
 * Corpsewalker
 * What Goes Up...
 * The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
 * Monsters (Content Warning)
 * The Cavalry Arrives
 * Abre Los Ojos
 * Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
 * Have It Your Way
 * In Media Res
 * It's Not Warm When She's Away
 * Three Rounds
 * Rainfall on Unmarked Graves

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Raymond Dawson. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''
 * Ray was a character who really grew during the game. When V4 started, he was pretty much unknown. As it went on, though, he became more and more popular among handlers, to the point where he was a major fan favorite who nobody seemed to have anything bad to say about. At the same time, Outfoxd went through and added bit to Ray's backstory, fleshing him out and giving more context to his actions. All of this came together to make Ray a really cohesive, admirable character. He was a guy who always stuck by his friends, willingly throwing himself into danger in an attempt to keep them safe. He failed sometimes, and that made him even more relatable. Ray was someone who took failures hard, but he was also strong enough to pick himself up and keep going, and by post-game I got the feeling that, even if everything wasn't perfect, Ray would overcome his challenges and lead a good life. It's the best ending you could ask for. - MurderWeasel